Milton Green, 92; World-Record Hurdler Boycotted 1936 Games

L.A. Times Archives

Aug. 7, 2004 12 AM PT

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Milton Green, 92, a former world-record holder in the hurdles who boycotted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, died Wednesday in Boca Raton, Fla., according to the funeral home handling arrangements. The cause was not reported.

While at Harvard in 1935 and 1936, Green tied the world record of 5.8 seconds in the 45-yard high hurdles four times, according to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He also tied the world record of 7.5 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles in 1936.

For the record:

12:00 a.m. Aug. 9, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday August 09, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 67 words Type of Material: Correction
Green obituary -- The obituary of Milton Green in Saturday’s California section indicated that former world record hurdler Milton Green had died. The Milton Green who died Aug. 4 in Palm Beach County, Fla., was a businessman from Boca Raton, Fla., not the hurdler who boycotted the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The former hurdler and his wife split their time between Palm Beach County and Boston.

Considered a lock for the U.S. team, Green boycotted the Berlin Games because of Adolf Hitler and the persecution of Jews in Germany.

Green and his roommate, Norman Cahners, both qualified for the final tryouts for the Olympics. Green qualified in the high hurdles and the long jump. Cahners qualified in the hammer throw. But after talking it over with Rabbi Harry Levy, then the spiritual leader of Temple Israel in Boston, the two athletes decided not to go.

“He thought we would never regret it, and we never did,” Green told the Jewish Advocate in 1997.

After graduating, he attended Harvard Business School and served in the Navy during World War II.

Green, a native of Lowell, Mass., spent much of his life in Florida where he developed commercial properties and shopping centers. He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Netanya, Israel, in 1997.

--- UNPUBLISHED NOTE --- See Associated Press story that ran August 9, 2004: “Green Obituary Incorrect.” --- END NOTE ---